Comparison of Drama & Poetry of Elizabethan age with that of Pope age

The Elizabethan age (1558 – 1625) is generally regarded as the greatest in the history of English literature. It is also known as the golden age of English drama. In this age the tremendous impetus received from the renaissance, reformation, and from the exploration of the new-world. Such an age of thought, feeling and vigorous action finds its best expression in the development of drama which culminating in Shakespeare, Johnson and University Wits. Though the age produced some excellent prose works, it is essentially an age of poetry, but both poetry and drama were permeated by Italian influence, which was dominated in English literature from Chaucer to the Restoration. The period from 1660 to 1700 is known as the Restoration period or the Age of Dryden. Dryden was the representative writer of this period. The restoration of King Charles II in 1660 marks the beginning of a new era both in the life and the literature of England. The beginning of the Restoration began the process of social transformation. The atmosphere of gaiety and cheerfulness, of licentiousness and moral laxity was restored. The theatres were reopened. There was a stern reaction against the morality of the Puritans. Morality was on the wane. There was laxity everywhere in life. All these tendencies of the age are clearly reflected in the literature of the period. During this period there was a rapid development of science. The establishment of the Royal Society was a landmark in history of England. The interest in science began to grow. The growing interest in science resulted in the beginning of rational inquiry and scientific and objective outlook. Objectivity, rationality and intellectual quality also enlivened the literature of this period. The literature of the Restoration period marked the complete breaking of ties with the Elizabethan literature. At the Restoration the break with the past was almost absolute. It involved the English literature in the